Wednesday, 17 July 2013

This is one of my chapters for a collaboration that a great friend and I are doing. My post with Marie Curie was also included (with a few tweaks). Also, check out my collaboration partner, JeromeR.Vandamme! He's a fantastic writer! :)

Shutting the door
behind me, all noise ceases abruptly like a wall blocking the notes of a
concerto. There are little groups of people packed into the corners of the
halls, hushing each other to check over their shoulders before continuing their
whispers.

Grasping my file
folders closer to my chest, I tip-toe down the hallway from Personal History
lecture and out of the nearest exit to the courtyard to escape the crackling
hum.

Another door to
shut, but now I can finally breathe. From a room where my instructors
mindlessly repeat what my music style should be, to a hallway where the tension
could snap a violin bow before it settles it's strings. Days like today, I wish
for the deafness Beethoven has now been spared.

Forcing my chin up
and away from its familiar perch on the tops of my music sheets, I set a course
to my studio, pondering the source of the rumors.

Where did Martha go?

It was awfully
strange for her to not make her rounds before ten last night to bid everyone
sweet dreams. Absently my hand prods the bags under my eyes. The instructors
had not been happy with them or my honest explanation. Although they did not
answer my question regarding Martha's disappearance.

"She has bid a leave, probably for a vacation of
sorts, and she'll be back soon, I'm sure. Now, get some sleep Mozart;
Headmaster will not be pleased when her genius is not presentable for his next
concerto."

Sighing, I drop a
hand onto the handle of the Arts building door and breathe. "My
concerto," I say in an exhale, and finally twist the handle to let myself
in.

"Wolf! Wait
up!"

Turning around I
hold open the door for Marie and instantly my worries clear away when she
smiles. I can still remember when I had caught her in my studio, hesitantly
brushing the keys. She was embarrassed. Now she's a complete opposite from the
girl who I had seen glimpses in the Personal History hallway.

"How is your
opera coming along?" she asks, and I groan inwardly at the reminder.

"It's.. coming
along. I have a concerto I also have to work on."

She nods
understandably, and we walk in silence to my studio. With the glass doors shut,
we head to my piano where she immediately seats herself on the bench and
practices her scales while I start sorting the two pieces I am working on into
their respective piles.

"Have you heard the rumors?" she
asks nonchalantly without a break in her scales.

I cut myself on a
couple sheets from my startle and plop my left index finger into my mouth.
"About Martha?" I mumble around my finger.

She nods her wispy
bun. "They're saying that she has gone off on vacation," she says
with a snort. "But she wouldn't have gone without telling us, right? And
anyways, the rumor is that she's finally gotten in trouble with
Headmaster."

I suck on my cut as
my heart drops from my chest to my belly. There is a dull thud of my heartbeat
as I recall Headmaster's cold attitude towards Martha last week when she had
complained that I shouldn't have to do a concerto and opera scheduled for this
weekend.

"Salvador!"
Marie calls abruptly and I snap my head up to see Salvador pass by the studio
in the hallway. She's off the bench and opening the door to greet our friend in
an instant. Her gasp resonates throughout the room. "Your eyes, Salvador.."

He brushes off her
comment with a shrug and I notice the dark bruise over his right eye, partially
hidden by his long locks. His hair is usually swept up out of her face, but
today it looks greasy and wild.

"What
happened?" I ask, dumbfounded that anyone would resort to violence on
campus.

"Nothing,"
he answers but he's not looking at either of us. His eyes are sweeping over our
heads. "An instructor got on my nerves, that's all."

"Well, maybe
Martha-" Marie starts, but stops herself.

At her dejection,
Salvador finally turns to look at her and relaxes, placing a hand on her head
to reassure her. I creep closer to them and grab hold of Marie's hand.